Brent Cloyd
When Gerald and Betty Steffy came to Fairfield in August 1959, the couple were in their mid-twenties. Gerald had just completed his theological training, and he was called to serve North Side Baptist Church. Gerald and Betty served churches in Illinois well into their eighties. Gerald died in September 2022, and Betty just a few weeks ago.
When I learned of Betty’s passing, I texted some members of North Side who I knew would remember them. Immediately I got a response from one saying, “They are the reason I grew up in a Christian home.” Gerald went to visit Bob and Dorothy Jesop one evening. Bob was an insurance agent. “You are in the insurance business, but I have come to talk to you about assurance,” the new pastor said. That evening Gerald led Bob and Dorothy to Christ, and not long afterward they were baptized into the fellowship.
Bob and Dorothy spent their lives serving at North Side. Bob went to be with the Lord about eight years ago, but Dorothy is still there. Their two children, Brenda and Brad, are leaders. Their granddaughter, Lindsay, and her husband, Jonah, are raising their twin boys in the life of the church.
That is the power of a gospel witness. When Christ comes into a person’s life and saturates the home of that person, it changes the outcomes of their family. It creates goodness, generosity, well-being, and hope. It begins a righteous legacy that has the potential to move forward from one generation to the next.
Gerald and Betty were simple people who served without notoriety in places that most people have never heard of. They loved the Lord, and they loved people believing in God’s promise of help here and his promise of hope for eternity. I am grateful for people like Gerald and Betty who were obedient to God’s call on their lives.
-Brent Cloyd is Associational Mission Strategist for Greater Wabash Baptist Association.